Scouting saves lives in a fleet situation. If your commander doesn't know what is ahead, you could be doomed to fall into a trap.

Steps

1

Acquire a scouting ship. The ideal scouting ship is a covert ops ship because of their ability to cloak.

2

Join a combat fleet.

3

Go to the area your fleet commander wants you, it may be always one system ahead or behind the fleet. It is important to know if you are being followed.

4

Cloak. If you are near a gate, orbit the gate at 150 kilometers (93 mi) after cloaking so that you will not be decloaked when an enemy fleet arrives. 150 kilometers (93 mi) allows you to be on grid with a gate and observe it, but also warp to it if desired.

5

Watch local. If any hostile ships enter the system or leave the system, inform your fleet commander. Remember to link the names if there are a small number of them.